MacCurtain Street, Cork I took this photograph at the beginning of September – just three months after the pub re-opened having been closed for many years – the Rory Gallagher sign was not re-erected.
I suspected that this blog entry would be about how a pub under new ownership and having undergone substantial refurbishment internally and to the elevations could so quickly become an authentic Irish pub.
I anticipate that the sign is intended for tourists as locals are likely to know enough about a building’s history to determine authenticity for themselves.
But when I read the sign, it did pose some queries:
I suspected that this blog entry would be about how a pub under new ownership and having undergone substantial refurbishment internally and to the elevations could so quickly become an authentic Irish pub.
I anticipate that the sign is intended for tourists as locals are likely to know enough about a building’s history to determine authenticity for themselves.
But when I read the sign, it did pose some queries:
- Why change the quote?
- Is the font different in the word ‘Ireland’?
- If so, was the amendment to the quote ‘homemade’?
- Am I in a small minority in thinking these signs a money racket to fool the tourist?
- Who decides what is an authentic pub and who appointed them as arbiters in this regard?
I know my answer to some of these but I am still undecided as to:
- If the establishment managed to get their hands on one of these signs and made their
own modifications, does it make them better or worse?
- Is the font different in the word ‘Ireland’?
- If so, was the amendment to the quote ‘homemade’?
- Am I in a small minority in thinking these signs a money racket to fool the tourist?
- Who decides what is an authentic pub and who appointed them as arbiters in this regard?
I know my answer to some of these but I am still undecided as to:
- If the establishment managed to get their hands on one of these signs and made their
own modifications, does it make them better or worse?
“Good puzzle would be cross Dublin without passing a pub.”
― James Joyce, Ulysses
THIS PUB HAS BEEN GRANTED THE JAMES JOYCE PUB PLAQUE FOR BEING AN AUTHENTIC IRISH PUB
"A good puzzle would be to cross Ireland without passing a pub" Ulysses
James Joyce identified and described the characteristic ambience of the Irish pub so successfully that the characters in Ulysses may be fictional, but they are based on the multitude of living beings, characters that Joyce found in pubs just like this one. This establishment remains an outstanding example of the tradition which Joyce immortalised in his works and is an authentic Irish pub which retains a genuineness of atmosphere, friendliness and presence of good company.
